Value of patient global assessment on evaluating disease activity in patients with axial spondyloarthritis

Objective To explore the value of patient global assessment (PGA) on evaluating disease activity in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (SpA). Methods A total of 222 patients with axial SpA were recruited. Scores of PGA, disease activity index [Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI), ankylosing spondylitis disease activity score (ASDAS)crp] and spondyloarthritis research consortium of Canada (SPARCC) were calculated. Differences of PGA scores between different disease activity groups in axial SpA were compared and correlations between different disease activity index with PGA scores were analyzed. Statistical analyses were performed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) software (version 17.0). Comparison of frequency among different groups was performed by χ2 test. Rank-sum test was used to compare the median of measurement data in different groups when the data were skewed in distribution. Cut-off value of PGA for assessing disease activity in axial SpA was calculated by ROC curve. Results Medians of PGA score in groups with BASDAI remission[3(1,4) vs 5(4,7)] and ASDAScrp remission [1(1,2) vs 4(2,5)] were lower than that in disease activity group (P<0.01). BASDAI scores [1.80(1.20, 2.90) vs 3.40(2.28, 4.63) vs 5.15(4.08, 5.88)] and ASDAScrp scores [2.19(1.34, 2.76) vs 2.86(2.08, 3.54) vs 4.08(2.96, 4.41)] were significant different among PGA groups (≤3, 4-6 and ≥7) (P<0.01). Differences of SPARCC scores [6.00(0, 18.00) vs 7.50(3.75, 18.00) vs 18.50(6.75, 24.50)] were statistically significant among PGA groups (Z=7.427, P=0.037). Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) [12.00(5.00, 23.00) mm/1 h vs 19.50(7.00, 44.50) mm/1 h vs 18.00(7.75, 54.75) mm/1 h], C-reactive protein (CRP) [7.85(2.37, 22.49) mg/L vs 10.07(3.02, 28.51) mg/L vs 21.28(7.14, 37.74) mg/L] and Bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index (BASFI) [0.70(0.10, 1.30) vs 2.25(0.60, 3.30) vs 2.85(0.83, 6.53)] were also different among PGA groups (P<0.01, separately). Proportion of axial SpA patients in BASDAI disease activity group or ASDAScrp higher disease activity group were different among PGA groups (P<0.01, separately), while represented as positive correlations (P<0.01, separately). Correlation analyses revealed that PGA was positively correlated with ASDAScrp (r=0.694), BASDAI(r=0.616), SPARCC (r=0.271), ESR (r=0.288), CRP(r=0.215), occipital wall distance (r=0.196), finger-floor distance (r=0.385) and negatively correlated with Sschober's test (r=-0.195) (P<0.05). Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis found that PGA-BASDAI AUC was 0.813, the cut off value of PGA was 3.5 and PGA-ASDAScrp AUC was 0.860, the cut off value of PGA was 2.5. Conclusion PGA has good correlations with the disease activity indexes in axial SpA patients. It can also reflect the degree of inflammation in iconography. PGA may reflect disease activity especially when the value of PGA is around 3. Key words: Axial Spondyloarthritis; Disease activity; Patient global assessment

Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.